Needle



Aug. 6, 1935. H; SWINGLEHURSTI 'NEEDLE Filed Aug. 1, 1933 INVENTOR HARRY SWINGLEHURST BY HIS ATTORNEYS -Patented Aug. 6, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT, OFFICE NEEDLE Application August 1,

3 Claims.

This invention relates to needles for knitting machines in which the needles are independently operated to carry out the knitting operations and it is an object of this invention to provide a needle of improved construction which will retain its proper position in its groove in the needle holder. It is also an object of this invention to provide a method of forming the improved needle.

In the drawing:

Figure l is a view in elevation of a needle constructed in accordance with this invention;

Figure 2 is a partial view of the wire from which the needle of Figure l is formed, the wire being shown reduced in diameter above the butt portion and the part of the wire from which the upper part of the shank of the needle is formed being broken away;

Figure 3 is a view in elevation of the wire after the lower portion is bent to form and before flattening;

Figs. 3 and 3 are transverse sections taken as on lines 3 3 and 3 3 respectively of Fig. 3;

Figure 4- is a view in elevation of the wire of Figure 3 after the flattening operation, the lines along which the flattened wire is trimmed to give the finished needle being shown dotted; and 7 Figs. 4 and 4 are transverse sections taken as on lines 4 -4 and 4 4 respectively of Fig. 4.

To form the needle shown in the drawing, a wire I of the proper diameter for the needle to be made and of sufficient length is reduced in diameter, as at the point 2, dividing the wire into portions of different lengths and diameters, the portion 3 from which the lower end and butt are formed being of the original diameter of the wire while the portion 4 from which the shank is formed is of lesser diameter than the original wire. The portion from which the hook 5 is formed is of least diameter; As the forming of the hook 5'and its latch 6 is carried out in the usual or any suitable manner no description of their making is included.

The portion 3 and the lower part of the portion 4 are then bent, as shown in Figure 3, to form an offset portion 4 and to extend the lower part of the portion 3- substantially at right angles to the axis of thebody of the wire, the'region in which the reduction in the diameter of the wire takes place lying in the bent portion of the shank. The

19 3, Serial No. 683,227 (Cl. 66-423) offset formed in the lower part of the portion 4 is in the direction in which the lower part of the portion 3 projects. After the lower portion of wire has been bent to form the wire is subjected to pressure in a suitable means and flattened to substantially the shape shown in solid lines in Figure 4. In order to ensure the butt and the curved offset portion being of the proper dimensions the diameter of the wire and the lengths of the portions 3 and 4 are such that there is a slight 10 excess of metal at these points after flattening the wire to the proper thickness so that the flattened butt and offset portions may be trimmed to the exact dimensions desired, as shown by the dotted lines in Figure 4, by any suitable means but 15 preferably by dies.

A needle formed as described above has its butt El formed with the grain of the metal thereof extending at substantially right angles to the grain of the metal of the body or shank of the needle 20 and at the butt there is the flat surface 3 in line with the corresponding surface on the stem. There is also provided the offset 4 positioned above the butt ii and projecting suiiiciently to have the face 4 thereof engaged by the adjacent 25 faces of the needle cams, to prevent the butt end of the needle tending to move toward the outer edge of its slot.

The method of forming the needle is not claimed herein as it is shown and claimed in my application Serial No. 24,730, filed June 3, 1935, which application is a division of this application.

What is claimed is:--

1. A needle having a flat shank and a flat solid 35 butt of greater width than the needle shank with its inner portion in line with the inner portion of the shank, said butt comprising an extension of said shank continuing at right angles to said shank to its terminus at the free end of the butt and said shank having a portion adjacent to said butt offset in the direction of the projection of said butt.

2. A needle having a flat shank and a flat solid butt of greater width than the shank, said butt comprising a projection extending from the needle shank outwardlyto its terminus at a free end and having the grain of the metal thereof extending at right angles to the grain of the metal of the needle shank continuously to the free end of the butt and said shank having a portion ofiset in the plane of the butt adjacent the butt.

3. A needle having a fiat shank and a one piece butt of greater Width than the needle shank with 5 its inner portion in line with the inner portion of the shank and comprising a projection extending outwardly to its terminus at a free end and having the grain of the metal thereof extending at right angles to the axis of the needle shank continuously to the free end of the butt and a bend in the shank portion adjacent to and in the plane of the butt.

HARRY SWINGLEHURST. 

